Iamgold Rejects ‘Revisionist’ View of Fund Pushing for Board Shakeup

(Bloomberg) -- Iamgold Corp. is dismissing what it's calling “a revisionist narrative” from one of its largest shareholders that's been critical of the Canadian miner's performance during one of the biggest bull runs for the precious metal.

Iamgold responded on Wednesday to criticisms from RCF Management LLC and its Resource Capital Fund VII identified Tuesday in an open letter, saying that it “firmly rejects RCF's revisionist narrative” over recent talks with the investor and the quality of its board. The Toronto-based miner said it engaged “openly and constructively” with RCF, according to a Wednesday statement.

RCF, which owns about 5.2% of Iamgold, is seeking to shake up the company's board and has proposed three director candidates after threatening a proxy fight over unprofitable mines. Iamgold said two of the candidates -- Maryse Belanger and David Smith -- are acceptable replacements for two company directors, though it rejected RCF's third candidate, Lawrence Haber.

Read more: Iamgold Investor Threatens Proxy Fight Over Unprofitable Mines

Iamgold also rejected other RCF demands, calling them “unacceptable” since they'd result the shareholder “taking de facto control of the company.” Such “overreaching” demands included immediately appointing Belanger as chair and giving RCF nominated directors control over certain board committees and the hiring of Iamgold's next chief executive officer, as well as paying RCF a $1 million fee to cover costs of settlement negotiations. Iamgold shares rose 0.9% to C$3.24 at 10:26 a.m. trading in Toronto.